But the EBA suggested such regulation would need to be very wide-ranging, covering several markets, the segregation of client accounts, capital requirements and measures to guarantee the integrity of Bitcoin - including both its protocol and blockchain, the public virtual ledger on which all transactions are recorded.

The EBA said: "Considering that no such regime is in place as of now, some of the more pressing risks will need to be mitigated in other ways. As an immediate response, the EBA therefore advises national supervisory authorities to discourage credit institutions, payment institutions and e-money institutions from buying, holding, or selling virtual currencies."